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Indians off-target on the first day

Kamesh Srinivasan

Anjali, Avneet, Samaresh disappoint; Katerina Emmons takes the first gold of the Games

BEIJING: The Indian shooters got off to an indifferent start, while the Chinese failed to achieve their target of winning the first gold medal of the Olympic Games. Former World champion Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic took the stage in the women’s 10m air rifle event, where China was eyeing the gold, by equalling a World record and setting Olympic records to provide a rousing start to the shooting competition here on Saturday.

Anjali Bhagwat was unable to capitalise on her rich experience and failed to build on a good start, as she finished 29th with a 393. After two rounds of 99, Anjali slipped with rounds of 97 and 98.

The other Indian shooter in the women’s air rifle event, Avneet Kaur Sidhu, a finalist in the last World championship, was also unable to find consistency after having shot 98 and 100, to eventually slip to 39th, following further rounds of 96 and 95 for a total of 389.

World record

Katerina Emmons, who had won the bronze in Athens, shot a perfect 400 to set an Olympic record, which also equalled the World record held by 10 others, and shot the best in the final as well with a 103.5 to set a final Olympic record.

Chinese hope and defending champion Du Li shot a 399 in the qualifying phase, but finished fifth.

“It is OK. I scored 399. I wasn’t fully prepared for the pressure of competing at home,” said Du Li.

Pfeilschifter fails

More shocking was the manner in which Sonja Pfeilschifter of Germany, who had dominated women’s rifle events with four gold medals in the last two World Cups with a World record to boot, failed to make the final, with a 396. She had started with two 100s and ended up with two 98s, losing out on a final place on the count-back.

It was a similar case for Anjali. She shot two 9.9s in the third series and realised that she had lost the race. It was tough to make a decent finish thereafter.

“The first 9 in the third series meant that even if I had made the final, I would not be able to do much in such a competitive field. I was unable to freeze for the shots. It was tough to control the body, though I tried to be patient. I was losing time, and possibly did not follow the regular procedure before releasing the trigger. I had good control at the start.

“Anyway, my training scores had been around 396. I can’t blame the 9.9s because I had some 10.0s also. I will try to regroup and focus on the 3-position event that is scheduled for August 14,” said Anjali.

Manavjit in 12th place

At the trap range, World champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu built up his scores with rounds of 23, 23 and 24 to be placed 12th in a field of 35, while Mansher Singh had to endure the agony of a 20 in the third round after a bright start when he had shot 25 and 24 and was in sole second place after two rounds.

— Photo: AFP

STARTING THE GOLD RUSH: Czech Republic’s Katerina Emmons will go down in record books as the first gold medal winner of the Beijing Games, thanks to her superb show in the women’s 10m air rifle competition on Saturday.

While David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic and World record holder Giovanni Pellielo of Italy led with 73, defending champion Alexey Alipov of Russia was tied on 72 with four others, including the two-time Olympic champion Michael Diamond of Australia.

With two rounds to go on the second day, the equations could dramatically change, in deciding the top six for the final.

Of course, the Chinese did not have to wait for long at the shooting range for gold, as Pang Wei captured one in the men’s air pistol with an impressive 3.7 point margin over Jong Oh Jin of Korea, after leading into the final with a 586.

Commonwealth Games hero Samaresh Jung had a bad start and a poor finish to take the 42nd place with a 570. He had a series of 92, 95, 96, 98, 96 and 93.

The legendary Mikhail Nestruev of Russia failed to defend his gold and finished 29th with a 575, and Frenchman Franc Dumoulin, the champion at the same venue in the World Cup, was 25th with a 576.

Olympics 2008-Day One

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